AsianScientist (Jun. 24, 2013) – Scientist have described a new striking species of moth from China, nicknamed “sun moth” for its engaging wing pattern.
The new moth species is called Stenoloba solaris after the orange circular patch on its wings that resembles the rising sun.
“During a spring expedition to north-west Yunnan, a striking specimen of an undescribed Stenoloba was collected,” write the authors, Drs. Pekarsky and Saldaitis, in the journal Zookeys.
“Only a single male was caught at ultraviolet light on 24 May 2012 near Zhongdian in northwest China’s Yunnan province in the remote Baima Xue mountain range. The new species was collected in a wide river valley near mountain mixed forests dominated by various conifer trees, bushes and rhododendron.”
The newly described sun moth belongs to the family Noctuidae, also known as owlet moths for their robustly built bodies. There are more than 35,000 known species out of an estimated 100,000 species, constituting the largest family in Lepidoptera.
Several of the species from the Noctuidae family have economic importance with their larvae living in the soil and feeding on the bases of crops such as lettuce and cabbage. Others have caterpillars that have the incredible ability to feed on plants that are fatal to other insects.
The article can be found at: Pekarsky O et al. (2013) A new species of Stenoloba Staudinger, 1892 from China (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Bryophilinae).
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Source: Pennsoft Publishers.
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